Jimmy Blanckenberg was a tireless right-arm medium-pace bowler whose lack of speed was more than compensated for by his nagging and unerring accuracy. While he was not so effective on grass, on the matting wickets which featured in South Africa he was a handful. Against England in 1913-14 he took 19 wickets at 22.52, and after the war he continued with 12 wickets against Australia in 1921-22 and then another 25 at 24.52, again against England, the following season. He toured England in 1924 but was unproductive in the Tests, although he ended the summer with 119 wickets at 22. He finished his career with a lucrative four-season spell with Nelson in the Lancashire Leagues. There were rumours that he was a Nazi sympathizer in the years leading to the second world war.
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